Latest science news in Astronomy & Space
After Shenzhou Success, China Looks to the Future
In the wake of the stunning success of its third manned space mission, China is sitting proud and looking ahead to its future in space.
Researchers Show How GPS Navigation Devices Can be Duped
GPS is a United States navigation system of more than 30 satellites circling Earth twice a day in specific orbits, transmitting signals to receivers on land, sea, and in air...
NASA's Mars rover will embark on two-year trek
The rover Opportunity, which has survived far longer than anyone expected, will set out for a giant crater about seven miles away. ...
Russia Launches Three More Navigation Satellites
A rocket launched with three new satellites to replenish Russia's space-based navigation system.
Hubble crew boards space shuttle for practice run
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - The seven astronauts scheduled to fly NASA's last mission to the Hubble Space Telescope climbed aboard their spaceship Wednesday as part of practice countdown for...
Einstein's Long Lost Telescope In Comeback
Students and visitors at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem will be able to look at the stars through Albert Einstein's long lost telescope, storage shed and renovated.
Physicists discover 'dark flow' motion
GREENBELT, Md., Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Scientists using data from the U.S. space agency's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe have identified an unexpected motion in distant galaxy clusters.
New technology to speed polar research
BLOOMINGTON, Ind., Sept. 23 (UPI) -- Indiana University says it plans to provide a substantial boost in computing power for scientists studying the shrinking polar ice sheet in...
Study Of Satellite Imagery Casts Doubt On Surge's Success In Baghdad
By tracking the amount of light emitted by Baghdad neighborhoods at night, a team geographers have uncovered fresh evidence that last year's troop surge in Iraq may not have worked...
Finding Fireflies Next To A Lighthouse: New Optics Technology To Study Alien Worlds
Scientists are studying new optical methods for three possible new NASA missions to search for alien worlds. The experimental technologies promise to allow astronomers to directly detect exoplanets by suppressing...
Mars Polar Cap Mystery Solved: Why Southern Ice Cap Is 'Misplaced'
Scientists are now able to better explain why Mars's residual southern ice cap is misplaced, thanks to data from ESA's Mars Express spacecraft -- the martian weather system is to...
Scientists explore what happened before the universe's theoretical beginning
When the huge subatomic-particle smasher under the Swiss-French border starts running, it's supposed to reveal what happened the instant after the big bang, the theoretical beginning of our universe 13.7...
Astrophysicists 'Weigh' Galaxy's Most Massive Star
Theoretical models of stellar formation propose the existence of very massive stars that can attain up to 150 times the mass of our Sun. Until very recently, however, no scientist...
Pulsating Stars Enable New Precise Determination Of Rotation Of The Milky Way
New, very precise measurements have shown that the rotation of the Milky Way is simpler than previously thought. A remarkable result from the most successful ESO instrument HARPS, shows that...
Pentagon OKs Spy Satellite Program
The U.S. Defense Department has approved plans to buy and launch two commercial-class imagery satellites to complement its classified constellation of spy satellites.
Biobased Isoprene
Goodyear and Genencor seek a fermentation route to important synthetic rubber raw material
Cosmic link to precious metals: study
Rare, precious metals may owe their presence in Earth's upper crust to a bombardment of the infant planet by asteroids billions of years ago, according to a study unveiled on...
Sun May Be Galactic Hitchhiker
Simulation shows that sun's circular orbit does not necessarily mean it stayed put.
Sunspot boom coming soon
Good reason to keep an eye on changes to Earth's magnetic field over the coming few years as the sun begins its next 11 year cycle of sunspot activity.
Broadband gives astronomy star power
Astronomers have made the first broadband hook-up between Australian radio telescopes, doing in just hours an experiment that would previously have taken weeks.
NASA images show Mars' ice dunes
WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- Images taken by a space probe 200 miles above the surface of Mars show a landscape of icy dunes, experts say.
Stardust evidence points to planet collision
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Masses of dust floating around a distant binary star system suggest that two Earth-like planets obliterated each other in a violent collision, U.S. researchers reported on Friday.
Robot mission to collect rock samples from asteroid
European Space Agency says analysis of asteroid could give information on how our solar system was formed
Explosion From Edge of Universe Seen
An explosion originating near the edge of the universe has been seen by an orbiting NASA telescope.
Observatory: Permafrost May Not Thaw Even During Global Warming
A new study suggests that the impact of increased temperatures on permafrost may not be as bad as forecast.
Future looks bright for interferometry
The PRIMA instrument of the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) recently saw "first light" at its new home atop Cerro Paranal in Chile. When fully operational, PRIMA will boost...
'Space' looks back at 4 years of programmes
Space is a source of inexhaustible fascination, discoveries and research. For four years 'Space' has reported on a wide variety of extraterrestrial developments. Some of these themes are explored again...
Interstellar Space Molecules That Help Form Basic Life Structures Identified
Scientists have succeeded in identifying naphthalene, one of the most complex molecules yet discovered in the interstellar medium. The detection of this molecule suggests that a large number of the...